Richie Benaud probably. I love the idea of being a wrist-spinner out-foxing opposing batsmen. Plus he was a more than useful batsman and a great captain. Seems a thoroughly decent and intelligent chap as well and I doubt anyone has seen as much great cricket from a commentary box as he has.

I admit I haven't read much about him; can anyone recommend a good book on or by him?

Richie Benaud probably. I love the idea of being a wrist-spinner out-foxing opposing batsmen. Plus he was a more than useful batsman and a great captain. Seems a thoroughly decent and intelligent chap as well and I doubt anyone has seen as much great cricket from a commentary box as he has.

I admit I haven't read much about him; can anyone recommend a good book on or by him?

Several: Benaud is one of the great underrated cricket authors.

As for me... Dominic Cork or Aravinda de Silva - ideally a fusion of the two. For no reason other than that they are my favourite bowler and batsman. They're both completely different personalities to me, and without beating on too much about it I'm actually rather fond of being the way I am and wouldn't want to change that in any way shape or form. But I'd still rather like to be them.

1) Had double pneumonia as a kid, as did my twin sis. Doctors told my parents to pray that we lived through the night. Dad said **** off, I'm an atheist, you ****s better save my kids, etc. Then prayed anyway.

Ray Illingworth. If you took all my current skills as a cricketer and keep exaggerating them at the same rate, you'd eventually end up with Ray Illingworth. I guess I'm the Ray Illingworth of HKHD C-Grade.

Wouldn't mind being Kallis though, thinking about it.

Last edited by Prince EWS; 23-04-2008 at 02:50 PM.

Rejecting 'analysis by checklist' and 'skill absolutism' since Dec '09
'Stats' is not a synonym for 'Career Test Averages'

Originally Posted by Jeffrey Tucker

Someone asked me the other day if I believe in conspiracies. Well, sure. Here's one. It is called the political system. It is nothing if not a giant conspiracy to rob, trick and subjugate the population.

The combination of the man who extracted every last morsel from the skills he had and turned one of the typically greatest weaknesses of a seam-bowler into a massive strength... and one of the biggest wasters the game of cricket has ever seen.

Probably Shane Warne, given that the man was a total genius on the pitch.

Aside from Warne, I'd probably go with Lara. Yes, he had some dark years in the middle of his career, but that would have only made it more interesting.

Sreesanth said, "Next ball he was beaten and I said, 'is this the King Charles Lara? Who is this impostor, moving around nervously? I should have kept my mouth shut for the next ball - mind you, it was a length ball - Lara just pulled it over the church beyond the boundary! He is a true legend."

Warne and Lara's careers actually followed very similar patterns, aside from Warne's initial struggle which for Lara was a single Test-match and a "proper" introduction in being around the team without playing for a while.

Thereafter, they were both superlative for a long time, then both far below their usual standards for a while, then superlative once more despite a little wavering toward the very end.